Happy Horribly Belated Birthday, Sami!

Sami turned 6 at the end of April. I know all mothers say this, but its amazing how fast she is growing. She's such an amazing little gem and the true center of my life, as she ages, she's truly becoming own person (And a very fiery, very sarcastic one at that!)

This year, Samantha decided several months ago that she was going to have a birthday party.

Eeeek. How do I plan a kids birthday party? When did my child become social?

I thought of all of the usual, having cake and ice cream at our place, but didn't want to deal with the whole passes for non military friends. Chuck E Cheese is surprisingly expensive for what you get. And I was afraid that everyone would leave their children unsupervised at Watiki (A local water park( and I'd have to play lifeguard. (Did I ever mention that aside from my own, I'm very anti-child? I just don't connect with other people's children like others do.)

I decided on Just Jymnastics. A local gymnastics facility that provides lessons and hosts parties.

(See the crappy photo I took? It was a rough week that week)

I bought these on Etsy from Too Chic and Little Shab . And they turned out amazing. If you're in need of invitations, check her stuff out!

I also ordered the matching stickers and banner. Because I'm obsessed like that. I also bought way too many decorations, not knowing that you don't really get a chance to decorate at this place as there is a party coming in right after you and there is a party in the room while you're there. (Confusing set up, it's obviously a party factory. Something I'll avoid next time) So I wasted a good $250 on decorations that I didn't get to use.

The Venue

The party went well. I didn't lose any kids, Sami didn't punch anyone in the stomach, cake was eaten, pizza was eaten (Sooo much pizza. I think I orders 4-6 larges and we only ended up with 1 left over.)

And most of all Sami had a blast. I didn't get many photos like I wanted to because I was running around getting things set up. Also, parents were not allowed no the gym floor. So I didn't get any up close action shots. The viewing gallery was on the 2nd floor overlooking the gym and a good 30 feet away from everything.

I did learn a lot though.

6 year olds don't care if you gave out personalized water bottles. (I did) They want the hats

Ask very specific questions when booking venues. (Are you going to eat my cake?)

6 large pizzas will serve a bunch of 6 year olds quickly. (less than 2 minutes. Piranhas)

Kids like cheese pizza! and LOTS of it. You could order all cheese pizzas and be good.

Bring lots and lots and lots of ice. This place was very warm, I had one kid nearly pass out

People will not RSVP. They will show up with the entire family.

People will RSVP and not show

An RSVP sent through a six year old will come out as :

"Eton wants to come but his mom is hanging his dad" No, Eton's dad was not in mortal danger for not taking out the trash, he was simply hanging OUT at home

Kids love to be left to their own devices. No need to plan a lot of games at a place like this!

Boys refuse to come to girls birthday parties.

A 3:45 start time means people will show up at 4:30.

Parents hate it when you hand out huge lollipops. I handed them out with glee.

Personalized ribbon doesn't mean much to kids. (But looks cute!)

In the end, the more the merrier, It doesn't matter what it looks like, cake, pizza and fun is all you really need.

But the extras are always nice

Favors don't have to be big. A bag of treats make any kids day. ( I don't even remember what I put in the favor bags)

Happy Birthday, Sami. You've made the last six years amazing.